Chelsea suffered a third straight Premier League defeat on Sunday as Mauricio Pochettino's side slipped to a 2-1 loss at Wolves – but the Blues will be left to rue an unbelievable miss with the scores at 0-0 in the first half.
Second-half goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty sealed victory for Wolves, despite a late consolation from Christopher Nkunku, as Chelsea fell to their eighth Premier League defeat of the season.
But things could have been different as the Blues threatened in the first half at Molineux and created chances to take the lead in the Christmas Eve clash.
Raheem Sterling was looking dangerous for the visitors and after half an hour, the England attacker led a breakaway attack after dispossessing Joao Gomes as the Wolves player took too long on the ball in his own half.
With Gomes' team-mates out of position, Sterling charged forward and Chelsea had three players versus goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Decision-making has been an issue for the Blues this season as Pochettino's side have struggled to convert chances and that was the case again as Sterling inexplicably ignored his two team-mates and decided to go alone.
How have Chelsea not scored here?! 😱 pic.twitter.com/cxICSt7y6XDecember 24, 2023
The former Manchester City winger could have squared to Nicolas Jackson or Cole Palmer to give either player a simple tap-in, but went on his own and hit a shot straight at Sa.
It was an incident which sums up Chelsea's season so far and will have infuriated Pochettino.
Ahead of the game, the Argentine manager had criticised the busy Premier League schedule which sees the Blues in action three times in the space of six days over the festive period.
Failure to win the first of those games leaves Chelsea in 10th place with just six wins from their 18 matches so far and 22 points, five fewer than Brighton in ninth.
Next up for the Blues is a home game against Crystal Palace on December 27th, before a trip to Luton Town three days later.
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